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75 minutes. That is the story of Luis Rojas with the U. Three games in the First Division, only one as a starter, without goals or assists.
But the news of its sale today to Italian football it goes far beyond what Hernán Caputto’s team may or may not lose in their fight in the national tournament. After all, yesterday he was not even cited for the Superclásico, and few fans missed him.
However, when an 18-year-old player goes abroad with almost no experience – although he has been selected as a youth player from a very young age – it is always a risk and a gamble that can end up costing races, or at least delaying them.
And even more if it is not a European power or a traditional club, as is this case with the modest Crotone, the club that just moved up to Serie A this year and paid the close to $ 3 million stipulated in their contract.
In fact, in the same blue campus there are cases that testify to this.
“Tied hands”
Since Rojas was the great “gem” of the blue quarry for at least two years, the great project for the future. The son of former midfielder Luis Rojas Álvarez -selected Chilean in the 80s and former player of Colo Colo, Unión Española and Palestino- he arrived at the club at age 13 and quickly became a figure in all the minor divisions.
2019 was one of the figures of the Under 17 National Team that qualified for the World Cup in the category in Brazil … precisely with Caputto as coach, with whom he was reunited when the coach went to the U, first as youth coordinator and then in charge of the first team.
He was one of the figures of the National Team that in 2019 qualified with Caputto for the U-17 World Cup in Brazil.
At that time, yes, Caputto would not know for how long he would have it. With what was done in the children’s Red and a single adult match (in the Chile Cup), the U had to sit down to negotiate with him and his representative, Marcos Calle, their first professional contract.
They were more difficult meetings than the club anticipated, and many times they declared themselves indoors as “at a standstill.” But Four months after reaching the age of majority and, therefore, being able to sign anywhere without leaving any revenue, Azul Azul simply adapted to the best available offer and decided to sign him in December.
“That was better than the alternative,” they say today at the concessionaire, although acknowledging that they were “Hand tied” before an exit clause that even in the midst of the crisis due to the pandemic it was more than approachable by almost all the European teams that were already showing interest in it.
Worth clarifying, This agreement was not signed by the current president Cristián Aubert but his predecessor, José Luis Navarrete. Although, they say in Azul Azul, there is little that could have been done differently. In fact, it is a success to have kept close to 70% of his pass.
“But they told us that the offer came and we couldn’t do much more,” they say in Azul Azul, who chose to suggest to Caputto that he not consider it for the first two games after the restart so as not to risk injury, since The medical examination is still missing to close the business, although it is something that is taken for granted.
Angelo and Camilo, the repentant
Crotone plays in a stadium for 16,000 people and is considered a fixed candidate to quickly descend again to the Second Division of Italy. But Rojas will not arrive there, but rather to the “Spring Team”, which plays in the second category of the competition for the subsidiaries in the peninsula.
The idea is supposed to be that there it blanks for a while until it is ready to be a real contribution. They could even loan him to another team in Europe. But that has been a path that several of his now ex-teammates faced, and that over time they have said they regretted following.
The most famous case is probably that of Ángelo Henríquez and the “promise to buy” that he signed at 15 with Manchester United. The English club that as soon as he completed a semester as a starter in the U claimed him, but he never used. The forward wandered through various teams in Spain, England and Croatia with varying success until, at age 23, he had to return to America, in Mexico first, and then back to U.
“What I learned is that I had to have been more patient, taking things more calmly, going step by step, fulfilling each episode”, recognized this year. The forward who was going to be the companion of Alexis Sánchez and Eduardo Vargas in the National Team, has not had a citation since 2018.
Camilo Moya is a starter at U today, but he lost several seasons to follow the same path.
But perhaps the most similar is that of Camilo Moya. Today a starter in Caputto’s team, with just 22 years old he has already lived what several experience in an entire career. Without debuting with the U and at the same age as Rojas, he also let himself be carried away by the European songs and in 2017 he went to the Spanish Getafe, a team that season after season hires promises from all over the globe and where it never found a space.
A little over twelve months later he was back in Chile, in San Luis de Quillota, and only now has he been able to start making up for lost time. “That I hurried, I hurried. It was difficult, it was my first experience living alone, I started to play and then no … but I take it as an apprenticeship “he said a couple of months ago.
What will be the fate of Lucho Rojas? Only time will tell, and the objective is that his case is different, so that Chilean soccer can gain a new name for the much needed replacement. But, unfortunately, he would not be the first to have to return regretful.
